„Utility to shut down five coal plants“

German utility STEAG has announced the decommissioning of five coal-fired generating units due to a low wholesale electricity price, Handelsblatt Online reports. The shutdown will affect hundreds of jobs on the sites in the regions of North-Rhine Westphalia and Saarland, workers’ council chairman Ralf Melis said, according to Handelsblatt. The company, owned by a federation of municipal utilities, revealed in September plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs and step up its investments in renewable energy. Wholesale electricity prices in Germany have been falling considerably over the past two years as additional energy provided by solar and wind power stations brought excessive supply to the market.

Read the article in German here.

For more information on how energy transition affects the electricity market, see the CLEW dossier Energiewende effects on power prices, costs and industry.